China and the US Really Need To Structure a New Type of Relationship

The annual International Institute for Strategic Studies Asia Security Summit Shangri-La Dialogue was held in the Shangri-La Singapore Hotel from May 31 to June 2. The most attention-grabbing focus of the summit was still U.S.-China relations. It is precisely because China has been constantly seeking dialogue with the U.S. and other Asia-Pacific nations without giving up her principles that the U.S. has amended its “rebalance” toward the Asia-Pacific strategy and the summit had an atmosphere of “low-profile handling of conflicts and high-profile emphasis on peace.” The upcoming meeting between the leaders of China and the U.S. to restructure their relationship as dominant powers has also become the focus of attention at this summit.

Before the summit, Japanese and Filipino media thought that U.S. Secretary of Defense Hagel would bombard China with “heavy artillery,” leading the Asian allies of the U.S. such as Japan, the Philippines and Australia and strategizing to “lay siege to China.” But these “guesses” have missed. Although there were clashes and debates, the increase of strategic mutual trust and the structuring of peace were still the main themes of the summit. Interestingly, Hagel did not point fingers at China as former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did in the 2010 Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum. Instead, he emphasized that the U.S. welcomed and supported China’s prosperity and thinks that China’s success can help solve regional and global issues.

In the past, when the U.S. spoke of returning to the Asia-Pacific region the undertone of containing China was very obvious. This time, however, Hagel emphasized that building a positive and constructive relationship with China was a must-have as part of the United States’ “rebalance” toward the Asia-Pacific. This means that the U.S. has amended this strategy, and these kinds of amendments have created a good atmosphere for the meeting between the leaders of China and the U.S.

In reality, the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region is fundamentally different from that of the Cold War. First, the countries in the region are all highly dependent on one another. When one prospers, the others also prosper; when one is hurt, the others will also be hurt. Secondly, even between the U.S. and its allies in the region, security interests do not overlap completely; each country has its own security challenges and different military strategies. Thirdly, some Asian countries hope that the security of the region can be ensured by the military presence of the U.S., but also need China’s huge market to lead them to prosperity. A majority of Asian countries do not wish to be placed in a “zero-sum game” where there is a clear distinction between the U.S. and China and they have to pick a side. For these reasons, domestic opinion in the U.S. is that the U.S. and its Asia-Pacific allies’ “containment of China” is “unrealistic” and that the U.S. getting itself involved in territorial disputes between China and the Philippines, Vietnam and other countries is “stupid.”*

The “rebalancing” strategy of the U.S. has already raised major concerns in China. If this continues, U.S.-China relations will further deteriorate; an arms race may be inevitable. With the structuring of a new type of relationship between these dominant powers imminent, the amendments that the U.S. made toward its Asia-Pacific strategy at the Shangri-La Dialogue can be seen as that country’s response. Whether or not the U.S. and China can reduce strategic suspicion in the upcoming Xi-Obama meeting and build mutual trust is attracting attention from all parties.

* Editor’s Note: These quotes, while accurately translated, could not be verified.